Uber Exec Answers Facebook Messenger Rumors

Last week, a report surfaced suggesting that Uber and Facebook were in talks to discuss embedding the car service into the Facebook Messenger chat application. Today, Uber’s senior vice president of business Emil Michael confirmed the company’s interest in getting into as many customer’s hands as possible, and referred to Uber as a “platform” that the company hopes other apps will use it.

This morning on CNBC‘s Squawk Alley, host Carl Quintanilla asked Michael about talks with Facebook and expanding into Messenger, among other things. Michael was vague in his response to the question and was careful not to refer to Facebook by name, but said that “all of those things you mentioned are part of that strategy” of making Uber a platform for all to use. It certainly sounds like something is brewing.

A partnership with Facebook would give Uber quick access to millions of users and would mimic other options on the market that already tie-in to taxi services, like WeChat, for example. It’s not immediately clear if Uber’s interest in Facebook will lead to full integration with Messenger, or how far along any talks actually are — but at least we now know Uber is looking beyond offering its own apps.